Doublesided Shadow
by The softest song
Summary: When a world as dangerous as Katherine's is turned upside down, inside out, and ripped apart, what else is there to do but try to find the truth, and test your limits along the way?
1. Prologue

She froze, not even breathing; watching, waiting.

He slammed into her from the side, making her crash into the wall. She was up before the dust could even begin to settle, charging and changing. With sharper nail and teeth, keener senses, and a killing instinct, she assaulted her prey. She was the predator, the hunter; she released the demon inside her, becoming the animal she was born as. And that animal wanted his blood, needed it, thirsted for it in the most deranged way possible. Kirro could say anything he wanted about her being tamer than the rest of them. All that proved was that she was more levelheaded, more controlled. But she knew what she was, and that was all that mattered now.

He hadn't been expecting the backlash from her so quickly; she caught him off guard. Just like Lyral and Kulu, he underestimated her; at least Kirro knew what she was capable of. She forced him against the stone wall. Pushing harder, she tightened her grip, her nails digging into his right shoulder and left hip. He gasped in pain and surprise. She smiled, then pulled back her lips back, baring her teeth at him. A ferocious snarl ripped from her throat.

_Death._

But she was on the wall, and her breath had left her lungs. As she watched, dazed, knife flew from sheath. There was a thin line of cold against her throat. She sighed.

_Oh well. I knew it would happen sometime. I wonder if anyone will miss me? How long will it take for the elders to realize what happened? Not long, I suppose. I'm too important. Well, it's done now, no use in worrying about it…_

She looked at her captor. Really looked this time. He was beautiful, but then again, they all were. They weren't human, and therefore didn't have human flaws. But there was something that was different about him. His features were off. And his eyes.

They were _blue._ All Lights had gray eyes. But his were blue. _Beautiful _she thought. Then he spoke.

Her eyes widened in amazement. His voice was beautiful, too. Softer than velvet, smoother than silk, more liquid than satiny chocolate. There was an ever so slight resonating pitch in it. All she could do was listen as his voice rang through the room.

"I don't want to kill you," he pleaded. "You're no match for me, and I'd hate to harm something so innocent and beautiful."

Her face hardened. "I'm no where near innocent. Don't be a fool. I've seen and done things you couldn't have ever imagined in your most malevolent nightmares." She sneered.

His face saddened to the point that she wanted desperately to make him smile, because the pain in his face was so evident that it pained her. Immediately she squelched the ridiculous, irrational impulse.

"How old are you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Eighteen. I stopped aging at seventeen."

His eyes widened at her response.

"Yeah, I know" she sighed again, but in exasperation this time. "Why don't you just get it over with, already?"

"I don't want to hurt you, remember?" his eyes softened. "I've seen too much blood and death. I don't want to see more…." He trailed off.

The sudden, desperate urge to wrap her arms around him was nearly overwhelming.

What the hell was wrong with her? He was a Light. She had killed so many, and with such ease. He should be no different. But….

She met his gaze. He seemed mesmerized by her eyes. He wouldn't look away, and she started to feel light headed. She shifted her face away from his, but her eyes wouldn't copperate with her; unable to break away from his gaze, she growled quietly at him. Everything began swimming around her.

"What…what are… you doing…to me?" she mumbled incoherently.

He said nothing, simply lifting her into his arms, and started walking.

Then she saw no more.


	2. Chapter 1

_"No. You are still thinking. Empty your mind, Katherine. It is the only way to live. You must let the demon inside you keep you alive; it knows what its doing. Now, again" Ethal sank on softened knees again._

_Frustrated, Katherine breathed in deeply and focused on her demonic part. **Let me become one with my inner hell.. **Heat spread from her core. Then she too readied her body, shifting into position. A tart and wild satisfaction curled in her stomach; the demon was in control. **Finally.**_

_Ethal lashed out with his left hand. She dodged and flung her right arm forward, catching him off guard and delivered a good, solid whack to the side of the face. The blow slung him nearly twenty feet, partly from him not being braced correctly, and partly because there was more force in the blow than she had ever called on before. Shock widened her eyes. But something told her not to dare let her concentration slip; the attack was sure to have caused absolutly no physical harm, although it may have sparked his anger. So she remained ready and waited. She was rewarded for listening to the urge; when Ethal sprang out of the still settling dust, she managed to sidestep his punch. Yet she couldn't move fast enough to avoid his leg, which slammed into her at an incredible speed. She made contact with the wall, and everything went black._

* * *

_Upon regaining consciousness, Katherine immediately began hacking bright purple liquid. **Damnit**.She pushed up with her arms and half spit half vomited up more blood. The pain in her stomach and torso was searing, keeping her on her knees, but thankfully it was fading fast. When she could no longer taste anything out of the ordinary, she shifted to a sitting position. Looking up at Ethal was dizzying. He peered down at her with a mixture of concern and pride._

_"That was excellent. You did very well to let the demon take control so completely. I must say I am proud, for you managed to execute a few moves on me. I'm quite glad i didn't kill you though; I was certain i did there for a moment. But here you are." He had a small smile on his face. At his words, her chest expanded at the words of praise. Picking herself up off the ground and dusting off, she flexed her stomach, satisfied that her muscles had properly mended._

_"May I try again, Horma?" Ethal's smile widened to show his teeth, and they began anew._

_And thus she was trained in the art of survival as a Mark; mastering control of her body, her mind, and the skill of majik.._

For many years she trained as such, until she reached the age of sixteen, when she received her final test; her first solo mission. It was unusual to receive a mission without assistance so young, but her Horma had confidince in her abilities. It was on this mission, that she killed her first Light. Now and then, she thought about him. She remembered his face in perfect detail; he had appeared so young and innocent, and in a way he was, but she had known better than to believe that he was as vulnerable as he had seemed. She remembered everything about that night..

_Stop. Concentrate. Dwell on the past later; you are on a mission,_ She scolded herself.

Inhaling, she scented several humans nearby. She was not thirsty for them at the moment; her need had been previously quenched, luckily for them. They meant little to her, aside from having to be sure she remained unseen. She despised hiding, but humans vastly outnumbered Marks, and it would be a global catastrophe if they were discovered, for mayhem would rein. Not to mention humans were the main source of the Mark population; it was very difficult For Marks to reproduce, though not impossible. That she knew of, there had been only 32 Marks born to Marked parents in the past four years around the world; it was an intrueging philosophy that Marks had thought themselves sterile for the past seventeen hundred years. So killing the humans was out of the question.

Leaning over the edge of the roof, she spotted the mortal creatures. When they walked around the corner of the building, she tossed herself over the side, plummeting to the ground below, and landed lightly on her feet. Glancing around to assure herself that she had remained undetected, she tossed her hair back and strode across the street and into the bar nestled there.

The man at the door looked at her expectantly, waiting for an I.D. She meet his gaze and nodded to him dismissively. He opened the door for her, bowing. She stifled a smug smile. Even though she was merely seventeen, she had powers the majority of mature Marks had, including being able to alter the mortal consciousness; it was an advantage over most other Mark youths that she revelled in possessing. She walked up to the nearest bartender and requested the manager. The woman asked her for a moment, and Katherine conceded. Peering around, she was comforted that the few humans here were to deep in their bottles to take note of her. When the woman returned, she motioned for Katherine to follow her upstairs.

Upon reaching the room, the woman opened the door for her and shut it as she went in. Katherine paid her no mind. She was focused on the man in front of her.

He lay naked on the wine red sheets that cloaked the bed, being stroked by three women , two blonds and one brunette, clad in scanty, mostly see-through outfits. She grinned internally as she remembered the poor bartender's expression. _Poor thing; couldn't join because she was working._ _Too bad she will never bed this man. _He was the perfect man for a girl have in her bed; blond hair and blue eyes. His chiseled body fit and muscular, though the muscles were not overly large.

And for all of his masculine beauty, she felt nothing.

She smiled malevolently at him when he finally caught sight of her.

"Ladies, I hope you won't mind if I take over from here." They didn't notice the odd edge in her voice, nor did they notice the man on the bed was now trembling in fear. The last girl even smiled at her on her way out. As the door shut, he sputtered "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I am no one to you. You do not know me, neither will you. As for what I want, we'll get to that later."

"That's not an answer!" He retorted a bit loud and shrilly.

"Then please clarify to me what information you want from me, Shaun"

"How do you know my name?" He nearly shouted at her.

"Oh, i know quite a bit about you, Shaun David." She preceded to tell him everything about his life, and the more information that came out of her mouth, the more panicked the man became. She loved playing with them, pitiful things. Suddenly he sprang up from the bed and tried to run around her to the door. She caught him by the throat and flung him back on the bed, where he scrambled back to the wall. She sauntered to the edge of the bed and climbed on and across toward him. It would have been very seductive if there hadn't been an animal feel on the very end of it. When she reached Shaun, she leaned over his shaking figure, pressing her body into his. Like this, she let her demon take over, and he could feel the change in her. He shuddered all the more.

She licked his neck, sank her teeth into him, and drained him dry.

After about two minutes had passed she left the now cold body on the bed and went in the small bathroom. when she looked at her reflection, she noted the line of scarlet dripping from the left corner of her mouth, and dabbed it away. She saw her hands; longer and more wiry with sharper nails. She saw her teeth, like those of a wolf. And she saw her eyes, silver, outlined with a soft, bright green that also shot inward toward her pupil.

And they glowed, as she smiled, pulling her lips back over those teeth, and more scarlet flowed down her face.

Somewhere, far away, a strange animal keened. Leaving her reflection for the window, she opened the glass, and keened back.


End file.
